I've been doing a lot of reading up on the bird flu recently, and it seems that in countries where cats and other animals contracted the disease, researchers think they likely got it from eating infected raw poultry of some sort. Big cats in a zoo, for example, got it from eating raw chicken carcasses. And the CDC says that IF dogs were to start contracting the disease, it would probably be similar--from eating infected birds. Though bird flu isn't here yet, they are recommending that people make sure their chicken is cooked thoroughly, etc., just in case an infected bird ends up in production. I got this info from the CDC and WHO web sites, in case anyone wants to look it up.

Does anyone feeding raw worry about this? I know that the bird flu has not hit the United States yet, but I feel it's only a matter of time, and I am starting to really second-guess the feeding of raw chicken.

In fact, I haven't fed any raw chicken to the dogs in weeks because it really concerns me.

A sorta "bird flu" has been around in the US for decades. My current supervisor used to work in a lab where he helped to take care of the birds. Once a month, he would have to clean out the aviary...each month, after cleaning, he would get a "flu." He got over it each time...but it's still scary to think about the fact that something like that was even in our country, and we had no idea....

But the difference between this and Y2K is that people are dying from bird flue in other countries. And so are animals . . . including zoo animals fed raw. Not a lot of them, but what worries me is that flu viruses mutate . . .

If it wasn't happening anywhere else, and was just a big rumor, I wouldn't worry at all . . . it's definitely been on my mind, tho.

SisMorphine wrote:I don't worry at all. Basically just make sure you know where your meat is coming from. Which is generally a good rule to have anyway.

But unless you hunt and cut up your own deer, how do you really know where the meat comes from? And even with deer, who knows where they wander before you shoot them? I know in the UK, when they had outbreaks of disease in livestock, they had to kill off wandering deer herds to prevent them spreading the disease.

And I buy my cheap chicken at the grocery store. Where do they get it? I am sure by them selling it at 19 cents a pound, they are not buying the top grade chicken...

Unless you raise your own meat, how do you really know where it came from?

SisMorphine wrote:I don't worry at all. Basically just make sure you know where your meat is coming from. Which is generally a good rule to have anyway.

But unless you hunt and cut up your own deer, how do you really know where the meat comes from? And even with deer, who knows where they wander before you shoot them? I know in the UK, when they had outbreaks of disease in livestock, they had to kill off wandering deer herds to prevent them spreading the disease.

And I buy my cheap chicken at the grocery store. Where do they get it? I am sure by them selling it at 19 cents a pound, they are not buying the top grade chicken...

Unless you raise your own meat, how do you really know where it came from?

Not trying to start any arguments, just sort of thinking out loud...

No no, that is a good point. I just prefer to get my meats from local sources who are respected and well known . . . though I have been known to buy from the grocery store at times, but I don't feel as good about it. Unless you do it yourself you can't be sure, but that's when you have to figure out who you want to put your trust in.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

I am not a member of any groups or anything and there are numerous "hobby" farms near me but I have not found any selling meat or bones that are less than the grocery stores...

If I had the stomach for it, raising rabbits for meat would be an alternative. They are pretty easy to keep, they breed like, well rabbits, LOL, and are a way to raise meat without a lot of space. But... ya gotta kill the poor things....

babyreba wrote:I've been doing a lot of reading up on the bird flu recently, and it seems that in countries where cats and other animals contracted the disease, researchers think they likely got it from eating infected raw poultry of some sort. Big cats in a zoo, for example, got it from eating raw chicken carcasses. And the CDC says that IF dogs were to start contracting the disease, it would probably be similar--from eating infected birds. Though bird flu isn't here yet, they are recommending that people make sure their chicken is cooked thoroughly, etc., just in case an infected bird ends up in production. I got this info from the CDC and WHO web sites, in case anyone wants to look it up.

Does anyone feeding raw worry about this? I know that the bird flu has not hit the United States yet, but I feel it's only a matter of time, and I am starting to really second-guess the feeding of raw chicken.

In fact, I haven't fed any raw chicken to the dogs in weeks because it really concerns me.

Am I the only one?

No, you're not.

DISCLAIMER:

My posts are my own opinions unless otherwise stated. They are not necessarily correct for all dogs or all owners.

gf turtle wrote:How do you find a local source for meat that is inexpensive?

I am not a member of any groups or anything and there are numerous "hobby" farms near me but I have not found any selling meat or bones that are less than the grocery stores...

If I had the stomach for it, raising rabbits for meat would be an alternative. They are pretty easy to keep, they breed like, well rabbits, LOL, and are a way to raise meat without a lot of space. But... ya gotta kill the poor things....

I found mine throught other people. There is one woman who I know through Greyhound stuff who goes into a butchery about an hour and a half away once a month and she is PICKY about her meats (far more than anyone I've ever met) and the prices are reasonable. That is what I had been doing.

BUT now I hear there is a guy who delivers meats and will come to this area and deliver them right to my house for mad cheap! It's who everyone at the training center uses for their source (since we all feed raw) and he does a drop off to the training center and will also come to my house since it's also the kennel which is owned by the training center. So I don't even have to leave my house!!!!!!!! I'll be calling him within the next two weeks (once things calm down here . . . it's crazy right now). I'm hoping that he's cheap, though the old manager got $90 of stuff from him and fed her two Rotties for almost 3 months, so I think that's damn good!

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

The prepackaged meat always have addresses on them as to where they came from. Most grocery stores use a local supplier for their meat. One of my brother's is a butcher for a local chain & he orders his locally from the packing house.

There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.